MOOCs arose out of the recognition that many of the tools used for online learning are already successfully used by course participants for informal learning networks, so why reinvent the wheel by creating or buying a bespoke e-learning platform or VLE (especially when they often don't work as well and usually have costs associated with them).
Another feature of MOOCs that is particularly pertinent to this Supporting Community Empowerment MOOC is their collaborative nature. In a community of practice, such as CLD, all of the participants have experience and expertise to bring to the group. The ethos behind MOOCs tends towards fostering and recognising an equality of contribution and learning in a way that traditional 'top down' models of online learning course delivery usually don't. The extent to which a MOOC is a course is in the sense that it provides a degree of structure and a framework that provides opportunities for learning, but the learning depends on the participation and interaction of the members of the community.
To see this expressed in a complimentary, but slightly different, way, have a look at the YouTube clip below from Dave Cormier. There is also a web page about MOOCs here http://www.moocs.ca
How to make a MOOC work for you
We'll add some more tips in due course, but you could do worse than watching one of Dave Cormier's other YouTube clips (below).
MOOCs arose out of the recognition that many of the tools used for online learning are already successfully used by course participants for informal learning networks, so why reinvent the wheel by creating or buying a bespoke e-learning platform or VLE (especially when they often don't work as well and usually have costs associated with them).
Another feature of MOOCs that is particularly pertinent to this Supporting Community Empowerment MOOC is their collaborative nature. In a community of practice, such as CLD, all of the participants have experience and expertise to bring to the group. The ethos behind MOOCs tends towards fostering and recognising an equality of contribution and learning in a way that traditional 'top down' models of online learning course delivery usually don't. The extent to which a MOOC is a course is in the sense that it provides a degree of structure and a framework that provides opportunities for learning, but the learning depends on the participation and interaction of the members of the community.
To see this expressed in a complimentary, but slightly different, way, have a look at the YouTube clip below from Dave Cormier. There is also a web page about MOOCs here http://www.moocs.ca
How to make a MOOC work for you
We'll add some more tips in due course, but you could do worse than watching one of Dave Cormier's other YouTube clips (below).